What's Your Holiday Perfume?

First off, I need to come up with something better than this lame "What's Your [X] Perfume?" for these posts. They're all starting to run together, and me no likey.

I thought I'd get a head start on the weekend and post today, since it's Friday for most of us. Today I'm wearing Laurence Dumont Vanille Violette, from a sample sent to me by reader Nikki C. I can assure you that I will most definitely NOT be wearing this perfume tomorrow, though, because there's no way I'm going to be that casual with the precious drops I have left. This was one of those perfumes that as soon as I had dabbed it on my wrists, I knew I was going to be in trouble, because the first thought in my head was to look it up online and see if I could get my hands on some. Wouldn't you know, Sephora is out of stock, but they kept the image and description up just to taunt me, along with the fact that at some point in time this lovely juice was marked down to $10 a bottle! That's right! TEN DOLLARS!

It occurs to me that maybe I shouldn't be telling you how pretty this is, because there's likely no way you're going to find any unless you know someone who has a bottle. (The Perfumed Court doesn't have it, and Nancy over at Fishbone Fragrances is on vacation until July 14 and is not displaying her current inventory. Bah!) The notes are rose, ylang-ylang, bergamot, violet, lily of the valley, sandalwood, and benzoin, but I smell nothing but the most perfect, sweet summery blend of violet and vanilla, just enough of each so it is neither candied or foodie. This is how I had hoped things would work out between me and Christian Dior La Collection Particuliere Passage No. 8. We all remember how that turned out. This is a much happier ending--or would be, if I could get my mitts on a bottle.

Now, something else I've been thinking about: patriotic perfume. Stay with me here. For the holiday season, the wondrous events from October through January, we have all sorts of choices in terms of holiday perfumes--beautiful spicy, incense-y scents that reflect both the season and its spirit. For those who celebrate Easter, you have your choice of perfumes based on lilies, or anything that means, essentially, that spring has sprung.

But what about the Fourth of July? Let me admit right off the bat that this is my least favorite holiday of the year. In the few places I've lived in my life, this holiday is generally represented by drunk rednecks towing boats to and from various lakes, whilst wasted on Budweiser. I like fireworks, but I hate crowds, particularly when said crowds are filled with the aforementioned rednecks, who are usually so drunk by twilight as to be more obnoxious than usual.

I guess if I were being literal about it, I would say that any perfume representing the Fourth would contain notes of hot asphalt, grilled hot dogs, beer, lake water, sweat, watermelon, and firecrackers. (Are you listening, Christopher Brosius?)

Ugh. Let's not be literal. Let's instead think: what's the best perfume to represent the Fourth, and what are the criteria? Obviously, the perfume must be an American perfume, or at least by an American designer. I feel like it should also be somewhat classic, although I'm not averse to having more modern releases on the list. Most likely it would be friendly. I also believe it should be iconic, and therefore most likely popular. I know that makes some of you shudder, but think of it like the flag. Someone may have a niche flag out there that he thinks represents America better than the Stars and Stripes, and his friends may know about it and love it and agree--it's much better--but, uh, who cares? I've come up with some ideas, and you can either weigh in on these, or add your own. Here are a few I thought of (and these all happen to be "women's" fragrances, and all of them launched in the 1970s. Does this have something to do with my childhood, I wonder, or a particularly good era for American perfume?), but I'm amazed how short my list is:

1. Lauren, by Ralph Lauren (1978). Notes: green notes, violet, rose, carnation, spices, woody notes. I hear this has been reformulated, but it's image is still classic to me. This was a popular perfume when I was growing up, and to me it represented all sorts of chic Americana: monogrammed cable knit sweaters, penny loafers, deck shoes. This is what you wear watching fireworks from your sailboat in the Cape, no? (Do they have fireworks there? Can you watch them from boats? Doesn't matter. This is my fantasy. And note that the boat here is a SAILboat, not a motorboat pulled behind a giant pickup truck sporting a confederate flag sticker.)

2. Charlie, by Revlon (1973). Notes: citrus oils, peach, hyacinth, tarragon, jasmine, lily of the valley, cyclamen, carnation, cedarwood, sandal, oakmoss, vanilla. You cannot get more American than some kicky gal named Charlie in her white suit and bright smile. I loved those commercials. I wanted to grow up to be a Charlie gal, much more than I wanted to bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. (Name that perfume!)

3. Private Collection, by Estee Lauder (1972). Notes: green note, orange blossom, linden, jasmine, reseda, chrysanthemum, rose, sandalwood, heliotrope, musks, amber. Sure, I could have gone with the more obvious Youth Dew, or even with White Linen (see sailboats and Americana above), but Private Collection is sort of like the American Chanel No. 5, don't you think? I would like to think of Private Collection as sort of an American perfume ambassador, representing us in its stately, sophisticated yet casual way. I fear, though, that people think of us more like Giorgio of Beverly Hills--loud, obnoxious, and insistently cheerful. I'm also going on record here: I think Estee Lauder might be THE American perfume house. What say you?

I would be tempted to add a few others, like Elizabeth Arden Bluegrass, which was my very first "grown up" perfume aside from Love's Baby Soft. Or how about Clinique Happy? Anything by Calvin Klein? I know I must be leaving off the most obvious, and I will want to come back and edit as soon as I've published this! Oh well, I'd rather hear from you all, anyway!

Have a safe and happy Fourth!

*images from Sephora and OsMoz

What's Your Friday Perfume?

Hello all! Sorry to be late again this week! I may have to start asking about your Friday perfume on Thursdays just to keep up! I'm wearing Caron Fleur de Rocaille today, with notes of violet, gardenia, lilac, rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang, mimosa, sandal, rosewood, orris, and musk. This is a perfect "warm" warm weather perfume, perfect when you need a bit of coziness from a scent, even if it is scorching outside. As much as I love lighter florals for summer, sometimes they can't wrap me up in the comfort I need.

What are you wearing today or this weekend? Have you discovered anything new? Please do share!

Have a wonderful weekend.

*image from FragranceX

What's Your Friday Perfume?

Sorry to be so late this morning! Lateness is becoming a habit with me these days, it seems. I blame Mercury retrograde (as always). I'm constantly forgetting things, dropping things, running into things, and running late these past three weeks. To add a bit of sweet calm to my life, today I am wearing Annick Goutal Petite Cherie, with notes of vanilla, peach, musk rose, and grass. As I run into doors and spill Diet Coke today, I'll be humming "I feel pretty, oh so pretty..." all because of this perfume. (Well, okay...I'm wearing pink, too. That helps.)

What are you all wearing today? I hope you feel as lovely as you are!

*image from annickgoutal.nl

What's Your Friday Perfume?

Hello all! My perfume today: L'Artisan Orchidee Blanche. I haven't worn this in well over a year. In fact, I had sort of forgotten about it. Shame on me! My collection isn't so large that I don't know what I have, but it's easy to get into a rut of sorts. If I am not wearing a sample, I'm usually wearing the same two or three perfumes from my collection. Does this happen to you? Any forgotten favorites languishing in the drawer or cabinet?

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Prize Update

Hello! Just an update to those of you who won prizes in the "Going Away Giveaway": I have everything packed up and ready to ship. I was unable to get to it this past week with the new job (which went quite well the first week!), but I hope to get everything to the post office on Monday.

Three people have yet to claim their prizes: Gina, Vida, and Kimber K. If any of the three of you sent me an email, please re-send it and be sure to indicate something in the subject line about the giveaway, especially if I cannot recognize you from your email address, as I mark anything suspicious as spam (including emails with the subject line "hello").

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

What's Your Friday Perfume?

This week I decided to break out of the back-and-forth pattern I've developed, going between L'Artisan Dzing! and Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess--oh, that's right! I didn't tell you! On the day I officially accepted my new position, I was passing through Nordstrom to meet friends at the cafe for lunch, and there it was: the last bottle. Yep. I got the last bottle (besides the tester...do they sell those? do the SAs get to keep them?) at Perimeter Nordstrom. Ha! Oh...but I was breaking a pattern, right? Yes, I decided to break out of the back-and-forth and try something new, so I pulled three sweet Carthusia samples from my sample drawer and gave them all a shot. Today I'm wearing my favorite of the three, Fiori di Capri, with notes of wild carnation, lily of the valley, oak, amber, sandal, and ylang ylang. This represents as a peppery white floral with an oaky base, sweet and heady at the top, but still rather dry, which makes it wonderful in the heat.

I also tried two others, Via Camarelle (lemon, bitter orange, marine musk, cedarwood) and Io Capri (wild fig and tea leaves), but to be honest I was too nervous and distracted by all the new things at work to pay them much notice. I liked them both at first shot, particularly Io Capri, which is probably the best treatment of fig I've found in a perfume so far because it veers away from the beachy-ness most fig perfumes seem to have and really does become something wild and green. I'll definitely be trying them again...but of course my favorite of the three is the most floral. Old habits die hard, and also, I was less distracted on Thursday because I was getting more used to my new digs.

And in case you were wondering what I wore on my first day at the new job...Dzing! of course. It's the closest thing I had to a security blanket!

Okay, your turn! What will it be today, or this weekend? Discover anything terrific this past week?

Happy Friday, everyone!

*image from Carthusia.com

Thoughts, and What's Next

Hello Friends! Congratulations to those of you who won something in the drawing. If I could, I would give something to each and every one of you. You have all done me the kindness of reading this blog.

I've been thinking about ways to stay in touch, and I decided a couple of things. First, if you'll still visit, I could keep up "What's Your Friday Perfume?" so we could all touch base with each other. Second, I still have to finish my reading challenges, so I will still be posting my thoughts here and over at the Short Story Challenge blog. If you ever read this blog for the books, I hope you'll still drop by now and again.

Wow, I did this backwards: I did "what's next" before "thoughts." A reader (Uma) asked me in one of her comments:

"...it would be just interesting to know what were the most interesting and breathtaking (both positive and negative) discoveries you've made during your time as a perfume blogger - lines, scents, notes - whatever. What's your personal résumé?"

I've been thinking and thinking about this. The first thing I thought was this: When one is new to this sort of perfume experience, as I was, practically everything is breathtaking. I'm not entirely sure I ever got over that, because it seemed that almost everything I tried, I was moved by it for one reason or another. I suppose, though, the most consistently breathtaking line for me has been Frederic Malle. I can't think of one of these scents that didn't grab me by the collar and shake me around at least a little bit. Two of my very, very favorites, Iris Poudre and Une Fleur de Cassie, are from this line.

That said, the line that holds more favorites than anything, where I'd own a bottle of every single perfume if it were possible, is L'Artisan. The only ones I might be able to pass up are Ananas Fizz and Verte Violette, because the first one doesn't suit me at all and the second lasts...well, for just about a second. The other line I love is Hermes, although I didn't write about too many of their perfumes.

And this may sound nuts, but I was truly blown away by how much I loved Flowerbomb when I finally got around to wearing it. For some reason I expected it to be really awful, very "woman wearing too much perfume in the elevator," but instead I got an elegant hippie. Lovely.

The biggest disappointments to me? I didn't have many. I wrote about the few that I had. I wasn't in this long enough to be jaded about too many releases, but I will say this: I don't understand flankers. It's too much of a supermarket experience for me. It's like buying Wheat Thins--you can get original, low fat, low sodium, garlic and herb, roasted vegetable, cheese flavor, and on and on. Okay in a cracker, not so good in perfume.

The other thing that disappoints me are perfumes that are supposed to smell like soap or laundry detergent. (Come out from behind the draperies, Clean Fragrances. Everyone knows I'm talking about you.) If the idea is to blend in with the rest of our blandly scented environment, then why wear anything at all?

I suppose the last thing (because it's the end of the day, my brain is taxed, and I like to end on a positive note) is that I learned I am most definitely a white floral fanatic. Gardenia, jasmine, tiare, tuberose...I find them absolutely intoxicating. I thought for sure I'd come out on the side of heavy incense, and while I very much appreciate a good dark perfume, the crisp or creamy white petals will win every time.

I know there's more! I'll try to add as I think of it!

Prizes!

This drawing was tough! I wish I had something to give each and every one of you...but Bob drew the names, and the lucky winners are:

Kimberly Kaye - Fragonard mini perfume set

Gina - Penhalogon's sample set, plus other fun samples

Joanna - Mini pack, including Annick Goutal, Susanne Lang, Robert Piguet and more

Nikki C. - Bond No. 9 sample pack

Uma - Sample pack

Claudia - Sample pack

Flora - Apercu!

Vida - Sample pack

Rosarita - Ivoire de Balmain

Veronica - Yves Rocher Neonatura travel pack and minis

Kim - Zents Sun Body Spray

Janet - Estee Lauder mini pack

Justine - Czech & Speake Neroli

Congratulations to you all! Please email me at sweetdivablog@yahoo.com, and send me your name and address.

Going-Away Giveaway!

Friends, today will be the first day of the Sweet Diva Going-Away Giveaway! I have sample packs! I have full (or mostly full) bottles to share! I sound like I should be selling mattresses! Or perhaps used cars!

I've been trying to think how best to work this, and I think I've decided on the best approach: If you would like to be entered to win any prize, leave your name in the comments. I'll line up the prizes randomly, and then draw a name for each one. I may mix and match depending on how many people are interested. How does that sound?

Among the prizes are:
Balmain Ivoire (full bottle)
Sample Packs: Yves Rocher, Fragonard, Penhaligon's, Bond No. 9, Liz Zorn, etc.
Yves Rocher Neonatura Cocoon Travel Spray w/ refill
Houbigant Apercu (mostly full bottle...passed to me from a friend of Sweet Diva)
Zents Body Spray - Sun (full bottle)
Mixed sample packs and minis
Czech & Speake Neroli (mostly full, generously passed to me by the perfumer)

I'll keep the comments open for this until Thursday, and then I'll draw prizes and announce the winners on Friday. Come on, try your luck!

Some News...

Hello Friends! I am so sorry for my ongoing absence. I have some news to share--some good, some bad. The good news is: This past Friday was my last day at my old job! I am going to work for a much smaller company, a startup that focuses on social networking and gaming. A friend of mine went to work there recently, and the whole vibe is much friendlier, more creative, more passionate than at the corporate monster I just left. I think it's going to be great fun!

The bad news is: With all this change, I've spent a lot of time reflecting on my life and what the future holds, and I've made the decision to "close" Sweet Diva. For a long time, it has been my dream to write fiction. I've tried off and on over the years, and I've come to the conclusion that it's time to give it a serious try. A big part of what's propelling me forward is you. Connecting to you all through Sweet Diva gave me more confidence. Unfortunately, this means devoting as much of my free time as possible to pursuing that goal. The blog takes a great deal of time, and I have realized over the last few months that I cannot do both.

That said, I don't want to leave you all empty-handed! I still have a number of sample packs and items to give away, so over the next week or so I'll be holding daily drawings for different items. You may enter a drawing every day, if you like, and if I don't get much participation, some of you may find your selves with a large amount of booty indeed.

Please visit again tomorrow when I'll hold my first "going out of blog" drawing of the week!

What's Your Friday Perfume?

Hello friends! My Friday perfume is L'Artisan Premier Figuer, from a sample reader Nikki C shared with me. I cannot believe I haven't tried this. The notes are fig, fig leaf, milk of almond, sandalwood, and coconut. Sounds rather fresh and summery, no?

What are you wearing today?

Have a happy Friday!

*image from luckyscent.com

Two Years!

Happy Friday everyone! The first thing: Today is Sweet Diva's second anniversary! I can hardly believe I've made it two years, and it's been touch-and-go at times. (Listen to me, making this sound like it's the Tour de France or something.) The reason I keep the blog going is you. I am so happy to have this little online community with friends who drop by and share. Thanks to all of you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading.

The second thing: Today I'm going to wear my sample of EL Bronze Goddess Eau Fraiche. Last night I just did a quick spritz on the back of my hand, and just that little sniff was enough to send me into a frenzy of Internet searching, trying to find a bottle to buy. Alas, this seems to be sold out everywhere online. I'm hoping that after wearing it today, maybe I'll decide it isn't worth all the fuss...I hope so!

And my friends, what are you wearing today? I hope your weekend is lovely, and if you are a mother or have a mother, I wish you a Happy Mother's Day!

*image from esteelauder.com

And the Winner Is...

Jennifer S. S.! Congratulations, you are the winner of the latest grab-bag giveaway! Please send your name and address to sweetdivablog@yahoo.com.

Thanks to everybody who entered! I'll have another giveaway in a couple of weeks, so you can always try again!

Tommy Girl

I have a confession to make. After a lot of thought, I've decided not to read Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. I realize that many of you may quietly delete me as a daily read for this. How can I be a serious perfume fan if I choose not to read said book? Well, maybe I'm not serious. Maybe I'm just a fan. The truth is, I'm turned off by some of the reviews I've seen that say it's rather snarky, almost to the point where they just seem to be snarking for snark's sake. I've found that happens on some blogs as well, either in posts or in the comments sections, and I generally stop reading those blogs. It isn't that I love everything, or even believe taste is taste and everyone's equal in that sense.

I'm simply bothered by people who take the easy shot. If you know a perfume is sub-par, why even give it air time just to bash it? Leave it on the shelf and move on to something else. I do try to be honest when I dislike a perfume, and I'll go in for laugh now and again, but generally, I do try to keep the spirit positive. Making people feel bad doesn't make me feel good. Call me a pollyanna, but I feel that if someone has taken the time to read my blog and try to join the conversation about perfume, then I must only give credit. How many perfume releases are there a year to wade through? How many people live in places where there is no Barney's or L'Artisan boutique on the corner? How many people have discovered their love of fragrance by trying everything that's at the drugstore because it's all they can afford? Am I going to shut these people out or make them feel stupid? Hopefully not. I would rather open the door and say, "Welcome."

I'm also bothered by the idea that if an expert loves a perfume, we should all gather 'round and praise it. I don't happen to like Estee Lauder Beyond Paradise. I wore it for four straight days, gave it my best shot, and it fell flat for me, so I said as much. What did I get? A comment telling me Luca Turin loves it. Well, then, let me change my opinion! Not. I tried it again, and I still don't like it. So. There.

I see the benefit of working from "must smell" lists, particularly for people new to sniffing. It helps to smell the classics, or to sniff across types, if you will. But I'm bothered by the notion that lists tell us what we should and should not like. I'm not accusing Mr. Turin and Ms. Sanchez of doing this, by any means, but I do think some readers out there are going to start waving that book around like a bible, thumping on it and persecuting the rest of us if we don't toe the fundamentalist perfumista line. It also bothers me that snottiness is held up as discrimination.

All this to say: I don't like Beyond Paradise, and I will never, ever like Chinatown, but I will stand with Mr. Turin on Tommy Girl. Just trust me on this one: close your browser and go to Target and buy a bottle of this perfume. Do it now. I got my little half-ounce bottle for $7.99. With notes of apple tree, blackcurrant, camellia, mandarin, mint, honeysuckle, lily, rose, magnolia, sandal, and cedar, it IS summertime. It's children playing outside as the night sky darkens and the streetlights pop on. It's june bugs banging against a screen door. It's a game of tennis on a dewy summer morning. It's a hot car after a day spent in a cold movie theater. It's hamburgers and milkshakes at a drive-in at dusk. It's the beach, the lake, the golf course, the stoop, the porch swing. Whatever is your most pleasant memory of summer, when you spray this on your wrists, that is what you'll smell.

*image from Imagination Perfumery

Friday Poll (Yes, A Poll!) and A Giveaway

Today it just doesn't seem like enough to know what you're perfume is for the day. Let's have a little Friday fun!

What's your perfume? Mine, of course, is Dzing!, but I feel it's time to get back into some florals now that May has arrived. I can hear Eau de Ciel calling me from my perfume cabinet.

What are you reading? I'm finally finishing Amy Bloom's Away, and then I have Jhumpa Lahiri's new collection (already read the first story) and then Lee Martin's River of Heaven. I may have a lineup, but I'm always open to suggestions!

What are you listening to these days? I need some new music. Help me! I recently discovered The Cold War Kids, and I downloaded their album but haven't listened to the whole thing yet. The other thing I've been stuck on is Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings The Flood.

What activity are you most looking forward to this weekend? Here, it's cleaning. Yes, I'm actually looking forward to it. We also have two movies to watch, The Savages (love Laura Linney) and Gone Baby Gone.

It's time for another grab-bag giveaway! Leave your name in the comments if you want to be entered in the drawing. I'll keep it open until Monday evening at 7:00 EST.

Have a happy Friday, friends!

Apologies

Friends, I offer you my most sincere apologies. Forgive my absence (again). I never wanted this to be a personal blog, nor do I plan to turn it into one, but I can say outright that I'm having a career-related crisis. Nothing earth-shattering--just the dreary in and out of the days at a job that brings little satisfaction. I hate how whiny that sounds, and I spend time counting up things to be thankful for instead. A dreary job is not the worst thing that could happen to a person, but it is an energy sapper in its own way. I am not looking for sympathy, and I know what I have to do is find something else. The prospect is daunting, but also exciting.

I have been wearing Dzing! for two weeks straight. I have not wanted to wear anything else. A few mornings I've thought of wearing a sample of something or other (this morning I almost wore Premier Figuer, which the very kind Nikki C sent to me), or getting back to the Penhaligon's I started trying so many weeks ago, but then I find I must wear Dzing! I find it so comforting and effortless, and I need a little of that in my life right now.

What have I been doing? Mostly hanging around with my nose in a book (The Emperor's Children is old news to me now...but a pretty good book!), or watching movies. So many movies! And I could not be happier that my only night of television is back and going strong: Earl, 30 Rock, Scrubs, The Office. Is anybody else dreading the end of Scrubs? I can watch the reruns of that one over and over...it always makes me smile.

I promise to try to get back to posting more regularly. And I'll be continuing my giveaways, not, as some have snarked, because I want to get comments, but because I am working very hard to de-clutter my home (and I am obsessed with this blog). I sort of started this last fall when I was trying to figure out what perfumes in my collection to sell or give away. I think I've come to more resolution about that now. Part of the effort is giving away samples, and the full bottles will most likely go up on eBay. I can notify you all when I put them up for auction if you wish, but it would feel very strange indeed to have that sort of transaction with a reader! But then, I also like the idea of a reader getting a perfume she/he really wants. I might even consider trading. I hope to work that out in the next few weeks.

I will be back on Friday--to hear what you're wearing, of course! Have a happy rest of the week until then.

What's Your Friday Perfume?

Happy Friday everyone! I'll be continuing my Penhaligon's sampling with Artemisia, with notes of nectarine, green foliage, green apple, lily of the valley, jasmine tea, violet, vanilla, oakmoss, sandalwood, musk, and amber. Lovely for spring, no? I plan to post about this and Malabah, so I'll say no more. Shhh.....

What are you all planning to wear today? From the look of the weather forecast, spring is not being a cooperative season this year. Some of you are buried under snow, while we here in Atlanta are buried under pollen--for now. Early next week we are expecting highs in the low 50s and lows in the low 30s! I am sorry to sound like the Weather Channel, but this is unheard of! I'm so tired of my sweaters...I am ready to wear a skirt and sandals!

*image from Penhaligon's

Penhaligon's Bluebell

Finally, in the first full week of April, after hemming and hawing my way through March with a post here and a post there, I am ready to get down to business. I've been randomly picking things up and putting them down again, spritzing on scent and then forgetting about it during the day, thinking of something fine to say about a fragrance now and again and finding myself without pen, paper, or occasion to write. I know for a fact, if someone were to look through my notebook at work, they would find notes scrawled in the margin like "mentholated vanilla powder--sophisticated and sort of fresh" or "truly the juice, real rep. of or." I also have all kinds of scraps of paper floating around in my purse with nothing but notes on them. If someone were to happen by my desk, he would see a sticky note with something like, "galbanum, muguet, cyclamen, jasmine, rose, cinnamon, clove."

At least today he would, because those were the notes I scrawled on a piece of paper this morning, the notes for Penhaligon's Bluebell. Penhaligon's was one of the perfume houses on which I chose to focus this year, so the coming week or so will feature these scents. The terrific Gail (and where is Gail, these days, anyway?) sent me their sample set, which contains generous samples neatly packaged in a cute tin box. I'm a sucker for this line for the bottles and the labels--I find them so charming. Luckily, in the case of Bluebell, the juice lives up to its appearance. It's both old-fashioned, like the label, yet streamlined a sort of modern, like the bottle.

From the look of it, you might expect something powdery, but this scent is--while flowery--also earthy and spicy in the best possible way. I've never traipsed through the woods in Britain during April or May, so I've no idea what a bluebell really smells like, or whether in fact it has a smell at all, but when I smell this perfume, I picture this exactly:
It has the exact smell of dense blue, of shadow, of the cool, damp ground, of the wood and bark on the trees. This scent seems to me the perfect representation of the thing, even if it were nothing like the actual scent of a bluebell (according to the Penhaligon's site, it is an "authentic" soliflore, so I'll take their word for it). I was excited when I saw this picture on Wikipedia, because it matched so perfectly the image in my head...or almost, because in my head, it was cloudy and raining a bit. The only other scent I can think of that brings me this amazing feeling of being comforted by cool blue shadows is Annick Goutal's Eau de Camille, which is a bit headier because of the lilac, but also more delicate in the base, more fleeting, where Bluebell holds its intensity quite nicely through the day, offering a peaceful glance of woods after rain.

*images from Penhaligon's and Wikipedia

What's Your Friday Perfume?

I thought this week would be a "comeback" of sorts. I had everything planned for my reviews this week, and then...another stomach bug. Half the office seems to have it. I make a solemn vow that soon I will have more than one post a week about perfume!

Today I'm feeling much better, and I've decided to go all springy and try Diorissimo, even though it's a bit rainy and not super warm. I'm hopeful.

What are all of you, my friends, wearing today...or this weekend? Are you trying something new, or wearing an old favorite? Either way, I hope it enhances a happy weekend!

*image from FragranceX.com (which unfortunately has none of this in stock)

Parfums de Nicolai Balkis

I've encountered few perfumes that make my mouth water. Granted, I don't wear many gourmand fragrances, which I suppose would be the most likely candidates for getting those salivary glands a-working. I could be wrong. And please note, I'm drawing a distinct line between perfumes that make your mouth water, and perfumes that make you drool. Plenty of perfumes make me drool with desire, but this thing with Balkis--it's completely involuntary. I get a whiff and my mouth draws into a pucker, and I cannot help myself.

The notes in Balkis are raspberry, Turkish rose, black pepper, coffee extract, iris, benzoin, and vanilla pods. One whiff of the raspberry here, and I'm transported back to childhood. I loved (still love) sour candy. In the opening notes, this scent has the same effect on me as a sour lollipop. I want to unwrap it and roll it around on my tongue for a while, and then I want to go outside and ride my bike or play in the dirt.

The raspberry in Balkis comes across to me as dried and a bit chewy, the tang softened by the rose and the coffee. The pepper is underneath, but the strangest thing of all to me is that Balkis smells not peppery but salty. Even with a rather gourmand list of notes, there's something very organic to me about this scent on the skin, and I think that's partially what makes me think about childhood. As adults, many of us sit in sterile offices all day, away from our physical selves. We're locked in with a computer and a phone rather than out among the elements. As children, we rode our bikes and made mud pies and planted imaginary gardens. We carried the scent of the world with us wherever we went; we had leaves in our hair and grass stains on our knees. I'm not sure if today's children get the pleasure of being dirty--randomly dirty, not dirty in an activity-oriented, sanctioned way.

As Americans, we tend toward the squeaky clean. Everything from perfume to household products is lauded for being fresh. What I like about Balkis is that, to me at least, it seems to be the opposite, without having to go the route of obvious skank or animalic properties. The iris, benzoin, and vanilla pods (ever smelled a vanilla pod? it isn't sweet like extract, but a spicy and dirty vanilla essence) especially give the base an earthiness that's incredibly appealing. And it's strange to admit, but the one thing that Balkis--this perfume that makes my mouth water--most reminds me of is sweat. (Have I never told you my sweat smells like raspberries and roses? Ha!) I'm not talking about Olivia Newton John "Let's Get Physical" sweat. I'm talking about the scent of your own bed, the warm and familiar smell of the person sleeping next to you, the mornings you wake up and stay in your pajamas and read a book and can smell the coffee, the raspberry jam on your toast, the remnants of last night's fire. It is the subtle yet sour, salty smell of familiarity, comfort, and desire. It makes me think of the French phrase bien dans sa peau, to feel comfortable in one's own skin. If you really think about it, all that obsessive scrubbing and ordering and anti-bacterializing does not exactly scream, "I am at home in the world!" But I'm not here to change anyone's habits. You can bathe once or twice a day and still wear Balkis, at least.

*image from Luckyscent.com